When was the last time the Timberwolves, Thunder, Pacers or Knicks were NBA champions?

The NBA playoffs commence on Tuesday night with just four teams battling to be 2024-25 NBA champions.

Top seed in the West, the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Minnesota Timberwolves (6) will face each other for the Western crown; while the New York Knicks (3) and Indiana Pacers (4) will battle it out in the East with the winning teams decided in a best of seven series.

In the Western Conference, the Oklahoma City Thunder reached this stage of the Conference Finals after overcoming Denver Nuggets after seven gripping games, with fatigue potentially being an issue for the OKC team.

The Minnesota Timberwolves surprised many as they sealed their ticket in the fifth game over the Golden State Warriors, who were missing the injured Stephen Curry.

The Eastern Conference matchup promises to an even tighter affair as the New York Knicks face the Indiana Pacers. The team from the Big Apple ousted reigning champions (Celtics) with the team from Indiana team advancing after eliminating the Conference’s top seeds: the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Last time the Timberwolves, Thunder, Pacers and Knicks were champions

Both brackets feature four teams that are relative strangers to going deep in the NBA championship with three of the quartet having never won an NBA ring in their respective franchise history. To put this into perspective, just seven franchises won 77% of the previous 70 titles.

Of the four teams that advanced to this stage of the playoffs, only the Knicks have been an NBA champion team (1973); with the Indiana Pacers, Minnesota Timberwolves and Oklahoma City Thunder* having never found the formula to lift the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

• New York Knicks: 1973
• Indiana Pacers: Never
• Minnesota Timberwolves: Never
• Oklahoma City Thunder: Never*
• *The Seattle SuperSonics were champions in 1979, at the end of the 2007-08 season, the franchise moved to Oklahoma City; giving way to the Thunder, although the current franchise does not claim that title.

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